A massive floating obsidian dais rose slowly from the center stage, enveloped in heavy artificial fog.
Suspended in an anti-gravity stasis beam was a jagged crystalline sphere the size of a carriage wheel. It pulsed with an ominous, swirling violet-black aura that seemed to swallow the ambient starlight. Rhythmic hums vibrated from its core, giving the illusion of immense, primordial energy locked beneath its surface.
Lord Varn stood behind his jade podium, clutching his forged parchment with damp fingers.
“Lot Number One Hundred and Twenty!” Lord Varn announced, his voice trembling through the sound arrays. “The grand finale of our Decennial Gathering! An authentic Ancient Chaos Star-Core! Extracted from the core of a collapsed primordial cosmos three billion years ago! It contains the raw, unrefined laws of chaos and astral creation! Opening bid is set at five hundred billion Astral Merit Coins!”
The entire amphitheater fell into dead, breathless silence.
Thirty thousand billionaires sat frozen in their seats. Five hundred billion coins was a number that could buy an entire star-sector outright.
Across the rotunda in Imperial Box Two, Vice-Chairman Malakor stood up slowly.
His skeletal face was split into a hideous, triumphant grin. Beside him, Prince Kael stood with his chest puffed out, holding an ornate platinum bidding paddle stamped with the official seal of the Blood-Tax Star Chamber.
